Thread: Buadhai's New Garden

I guess this is sort of a branch from this thread: The Construction of Ms. AC's House. I imagine this thread will go on for some time.

The house itself is pretty much finished, but we won't be moving in for a while as there still is no water or power.

However, I'm anxious to get the garden going, so I've already begun.

My last house (on Saipan) was on a 13,000 square meter block of land. The new house is on a block that is just over 300 square meters, so I've had to scale down my thinking quite a bit. (The Saipan house had three ponds, over 100 coconut trees, about 100 betel nut palms, half a dozen mango trees, etc.)

Most of the new garden will be in these two spaces; each of which has about ten square meters:


This is the "back" yard and will be for a few fruit trees and maybe some herbs and spices.


This is the "front" yard. The pond will go here. The plants that go here will serve several purposes:

• To provide some privacy by screening out the street and neighbors.
• To provide nice vistas with a little color.
• To provide some fragrance.

Our plan is to use lots of palms for screening, some plumeria for color and fragrance, plenty of orchids (we have about 100 now) and whatever else strikes our fancy.

Until recently Plumeria (Frangipani) was not commonly found in household gardens. The former common name, lantom (ลั่นทม) was too close to a Thai word for sadness or sorrow, ratom (ระทม). Less than a decade ago a group of dealers renamed the plant lilawadee (ลีลาวดี). I don't think this name has any meaning, but the change has caused the popularity of Plumeria in Thailand to soar.

Two years ago we were looking for a plumeria for our garden. After visiting dozens of nurseries we found but a single small plant that cost us 450 baht. It has never flowered. Now the nurseries are full of all sorts of varieties with colors galore. It's even possible to buy huge mature trees that were probably harvested from wats, the only place you used to see this plant. According to one article I read a three meter Plumeria tree costs about 10,000 baht in Bangkok. Thankfully, they are much cheaper here in Korat.

You can actually buy Plumeria online:

PlumeriaThailand

Plumeria In Thailand : Plumeria Flowers

A couple of weeks ago we decided to start the landscaping, even though we knew the house wouldn't be ready for occupancy for quite some time. Not far from us, near the village of Khok Kruat, is a big nursery center with dozens and dozens of retail outlets which sell every plant imaginable along with gardening supplies, paving stones, etc. The first batch of plants we bought included a Plumeria obtusa (the one with the shiny green leaves and abundant fragrant flowers) and a bunch of palm trees.


I also bought a shovel. Hard to find a decent one.


Palms to block the view of the street through the fence.


The Plumeria viewed from the front porch.


We plan to put one of those bas-relief sculptures that Thais call "jigsaw" on this wall.


More palms along the front wall.


Orchids do pretty well when hanging on a Plumeria. Here I've tied some new orchid shoots along with some coconut husk using plastic raffia.

I see the lawn has started to sprout. Can you give us details about that?
(And, no, I'm not taking the piss)

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

I see the lawn has started to sprout. Can you give us details about that?

Weeds. I just bought some Roundup this morning to kill it all. The developer is supposed to put turf over all the ground. That will happen "real soon now", I suppose.

In the photo with the "lawn" you can see a pile of granite stones. I found those outside of a gravel yard about a half kilometer from the house. I'm assuming they discarded these stones as an inappropriate ingredient in the gravel they sell. They will be perfect for around the pond.

I found this motorcy outside an empty house.
I have assumed they have discarded it as an inappropriate form of transport.
It will be perfect for nipping down the village.

I've always thought the nicest Plumeria is Plumeria Singapura. It's the one with the large white flowers that are yellowish in the middle. It has the strongest scent of all the varieties of Plumeria I have come across.

Originally Posted by Sir Burr

I've always thought the nicest Plumeria is Plumeria Singapura.

It's the common name of obtusa. My favorite as well.

From Wiki:

Another species that retains leaves and flowers in winter is P. obtusa; though its common name is "Singapore", it is originally from Colombia.